Hogs Correct Scrimmage Errors

Arkansas worked in full pads, but stopped short of a full scrimmage in Monday's workout on a beautiful day in the Ozarks. Several young players drew praise from their coaches.

Arkansas worked for well over two hours in full pads as coaches corrected mistakes from Saturday's major scrimmage.

The Hogs did not scrimmage on Monday, although they did hit in a full speed team drill to end the day. They did not tackle backs or sack quarterbacks in the last session of the day.

"We had a good day," Nutt said. "We had a lot of folks with sore shoulders from the hitting we did Saturday. They tried to fight their way through it, but you could tell we had plenty of bumps and bruises."

Nutt said there was good movement up front by the offensive line, but on the other side of the ball things weren't so pretty.

"There were times that we had a lot of people missing their assignments on defense," Nutt said. "It wasn't so good. We've got to improve. We gave up a lot of big plays and we can't let that happen.

"Defensively, Chase Pressley is still making plays, so we moved him up and he'll get more reps. Jayson Johnson is doing well, too. I like what I see from young guys like Desmond Sims, too."

Nutt said that Matt Jones had a good day at wide receiver, somthing that has been a regular thing this spring.

"We aren't surprised," Nutt said. "It's been a good thing. He's happy, too. You can see that by him coming to his coaches saying he could go to wide receiver during a specific session. He is asking to go there. I think what you see is that Matt realizes that it's another way to get his hands on the ball."

Nutt said the line blocked in fine fashion, especially Mark Bokermann, Dan Doughty and Jerry Reith in the interior of the line. He said Bo Lacy had another solid day.

"We didn't have Shawn Andrews or Jason Peters out there and we had holes for our backs," Nutt said. "That gives our guys on offense some confidence. Our backs ran hard and didn't have any fumbles. Our motto has been to take care of the ball and we did that."

Andrews and Peters didn't practice because of minor injuries. Andrews returned to drills Monday, but Peters was not with the team after receiving an indefinite suspension from Nutt for not paying a speeding ticket. Peters was arrested for an outstanding warrant stemming from that ticket in Ft. Smith.

"Jason won't be with us the rest of spring," Nutt said. "He needs to get a job to pay his ticket."

Among those missing the workout with minor bruises Monday were Dedrick Poole and Vickiel Vaughn. Both may return later this week.

Offensive line coach Mike Markuson said the line graded out in solid fashion, especially the top unit.

"We had one bust in protection, but did well everywhere else," Markuson said. "Bokermann had a great day. Doughty did well. Kyle Roper, the backup at center, also had an outstanding day. Roper is really playing well. He's a guy we could insert somewhere and get productive play. He's blocking well and playing well. His technique and steps are right there."

The Hogs will take a day off on Tuesday, then finish spring with four straight workouts culminated by Saturday's spring finale. The spring windup is set for noon on Saturday.

Bobby Allen gives instruction to Vickiel Vaughn. Vaughn did not suit out in full pads because of injuries sustained in Saturday's scrimmage.

DeCori Birmingham battles past a dummy held by Caleb Ceasar during a drill for the wide receivers.

Kyle Dickerson found a big hole behind Gene Perry and Kyle Roper during this segment of the middle drill.